Eventually, I returned.

"How was the walk into the principal's office? Oh right, no point in questioning liars since they will just lie anyway."

I'll ignore her for one month straight. Today is March 6th, therefore, when it's April 6th, this will end.

This isn't to say that I don't mind extending this, but this is just the necessary length.

And without anything to do, I waited until lunchtime.

1 pm.

Funny enough, my table partner didn't bother to insist after that.

As soon as the bell rang, Yulia looked in my direction.

However...

Someone was already in front of me before her look could connect.

"Dan, this is urgent. I won't take no for an answer. Come."

"Yeah, okay."

"Wait, you're not arguing?"

"Nope, Kawahara. I'm totally fine. As a matter of fact, I've been meaning to talk to you about something. Can we get going though? She's gonna catch us..."

With no complaints to my suggestion, Kawahara, Rayazaki, Kuzan, and I left the block with considerable speed and managed to not be caught by Yulia.

We then went all the way to one of the main sections of the school that contained restaurants.

There was an Indian restaurant and since Kawahara apparently loves spicy food, he suggested it.

By the way, he paid for all of us. Somehow.

Thus, we four went to the highest section of the building and ate while embracing the magnificent wind from the outside.

"Hot! Hot! Hot!!"

Kuzan, finally getting a taste of what Indian food is like, was going through hell as he lashed out his tongue in pure despair.

"Needs more chili pepper."

Yet Rayazaki added that the food itself needed more spice.

Frankly, this was quite spicy.

Is Rayazaki highly-tolerant when it comes to spicy stuff?

"We are one step ahead already. Cuck Ryoken and cuck Susaga experienced public shaming yesterday. They won't even look at us. But, we have to step our game up."

"How, Kawahara?"

"Simple. We start spreading rumors!"

Rumors...?

"I see what you mean, Kawahara. Even if the rest of us know about how Susaga and Ryoken feel towards Yukishiro and Gale, it's far more important if we spread the rumors all the way to the girls themselves. Such a bummer that we can't interact with other students though."

"About that, Rayazaki... I already have that covered. What you mentioned won't be a problem. However, we have to start spreading rumors. Each and every single one of you will be tasked with spreading those rumors. Daniel, you are close to Lus, right?"

Where did Kawahara get that false information from?

After I stuffed another chomp of the hot curry into my mouth and swallowed it, I replied awkwardly due to the steaming evaporation coming from the inside of my mouth.

"N-No...! That's just a misconception... I hate her."

"What? I thought you two were super close. How else can you explain what happened this morning?"

Oh.

I guess Kawahara doesn't know...

"The bitch stabbed me with a pioneer... I'm surprised I haven't fisted her vagina."

The pain still hasn't ceased to exist... She's a psychopath. No one in their right mind stabs someone with a fucking pioneer...

She needs some serious medical assistance.

"Hahahaha!!! So that's what happened! Mhm, I see. So you two aren't close at all. Then, use the thot to spread the rumors."

"Thot...?"

There are so many in the class, who exactly is Kawahara referring to?

"Yulia. Rayazaki, you are close to the shrimp, aren't you?"

Calmly eating his curry, Rayazaki stopped reading his book and projected all of his attention to Kawahara straight away.

He's been reading the same book over and over... Art of War...?

Probably boring as hell.

"Who is this shrimp you are referring to?"

Does he seriously not realize who the shrimp is? There is only someone in the class who's obnoxiously small.

Kawahara, before replying, stuffed more and more curry onto his mouth and spoke regardless of the large amount that was inside it.

"Hinagiku, you dumbass. Or do you two not just talk anymore?"

"Oh... Hinagiku. No, we don't. Well... She tries to talk to me but I just don't have any idea what to talk to her about. The conversation is idle. So, no. We aren't close. I think I'm just going to delete her contact."

I spat my drink.

"W-Wait, you're going to delete her contact?!"

"Hm? Yes. What's the point of keeping a contact you have no use for? Or is it a common trend to keep useless contacts on your phone...? If so, then I didn't know. Apologies."

I feel like bursting right now. Rayazaki just said something as heartless as that.

I'm creasing.

"That's weird... Did we ever have such a connection? I can't recall."

"Yeah! You two h--"

"Silence, Kuzan!"

"Yes..."

Although Kuzan attempted to confirm Rayazaki's doubts, he was quickly silenced by Kawahara.

I can't tell if this is just a professional act by Rayazaki or if he literally doesn't recall.

"Rayazaki, don't insist on the shrimp then. Continue with Yukishiro."

"Well, that was the plan."

But would Rayazaki be successful in his endeavor? I have not witnessed their interactions yet.

Also, Yulia wasn't on sight. Does this mean that she didn't bother to chase us and just went on with her stuff?

Could this mean that Yulia and Sana and exchanging friendly words right now?

That would be great.

"Kuzan! You're close to Kanawari, aren't you?"

"We are just friends! But, somewhat. We do talk a lot if that matters."

Just friends but talk a lot.

Is Kuzan trying to flex?

"Perfect. Spread her the rumors as well. As for my part, I already have a fan club of my own. By tomorrow, you should all see the results of what I'm trying to imply."

Mysterious as always, Kawahara refused to unilaterally explain what was going through his mind concretely.

Since Kawahara seemed to be done with his speech, I stepped in.

"Kawahara. I don't think it's going to work..."

"Work? What? My plan? It will one-hundred percent work. As a matter of fact, we already made progress yest-"

"No... Not that... I'm talking about my target..."

I don't have doubts when it comes to Kawahara honestly.

It's just a different story when it comes to Arkalee.

"Arkalee?"

"Yeah, Arkalee."

"Oh. Perfect timing. Regarding that. You don't have to try it anymore. I gave you the wrong target. That was partially my fault honestly."

Wait...

Did Kawahara just admit being in the wrong for once?

"W-What? Master was wrong!?"

Even Kuzan couldn't help but be baffled. Rayazaki was certainly in the same position as he looked with doubtful eyes in Kawahara's direction.

"That's strange, Kawahara. Are you sure you were wrong?"

Nevertheless, Rayazaki still persisted.

"It's true. I was wrong..."

We three gasped.

An unbelievable scenario was upon us...

Could it be that Kawahara was finally going to admit it----

"I was wrong about being wrong!"

Ah.

It was too good to be true, wasn't it...?

"I've discussed something with the three of you privately. How I had a baseless theory regarding Arkalee! Yet, that was my grave mistake! How could I doubt my own theories!? Even if they are baseless, they are always right!"

And once again, Kawahara was basking on his own self-fabricated prideful arrogance that was considerably unrivaled.

He spoke with such exhilaration that I couldn't find any traces of insecurities but only confident remarks.

"Kawahara, what is that baseless theory, you may ask?!"

Not me, not Rayazaki, not Kuzan, but Kawahara himself questioned himself while maintaining a jester's posture.

"Fancy question! Very well, I shall give you the privilege of receiving the sacred intriguing answer to it! You see, Arkalee has an oblivious crush on the bastard!"

Wait, what?

I mean.... Now that I think about it...

"Sorry for my interruption, but who is this 'bastard' you are referring to?"

"There is only one bastard that is more bastard than the others among the bastards, Rayazaki!"

Per usual, Kawahara refuses to get to the point and rather makes a joke about the identity of this 'bastard'.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Therefore, I'll fill Rayazaki in.

"Rayazaki, he's referring to Hyunda..."

But still...

"Oh, I see. So, how exactly does Arkalee have a crush on Hyunda and how is that helpful to the plan, Kawahara?"

"I thought you'd never ask, Rayazaki! First of all, although she tries to hide it, her field of vision is filled with the bastard and only the bastard. As someone who constantly monitors behaviors daily, Arkalee herself never really stood out. She was just this shy introvert that had nothing going for her. However! Something happened!"

I feel like Kawahara's exaggerating....

You'd have to be insane to develop a crush for Hyunda. If you know how he truly is, then I don't see him scoring with another girl.

Plus, I thought he and Ikkiri had something going on yet they haven't talked for all I know.

Do they still talk to each other?

"What exactly happened though?"

Given my curiosity, I didn't hold back and asked. Regardless of it's a baseless theory or not, I don't mind listening to what Kawahara has to say on this topic since it partially concerns me.

"That's something I don't know. Hence, it's a baseless theory. Nevertheless, I will continue."

Hardly pleased, I stuffed more curry in.

Then again, that certainly explains what Kawahara meant by 'baseless'.

"Putting aside the unknown development that I am not aware of how it happened, something became pretty clear. Arkalee developed a crush on him. It's undeniable if you think about it. Try and observe her actions for an entire day and your jaw will drop. She literally clings to him like it's her life force."

Seriously...?

I mean, I never tried to observe her behavior, but if Kawahara says it's like that then...

"Furthermore, I suspect that this crush happened in-between the previous exam. Hear me out here. I'm about to speak the biggest of facts."

The three of us, extremely curious paused our forks and knives and began to listen to Kawahara's upcoming words with undivided attention.

"Prior to the previous exam, Arkalee didn't have this sort of behavior with him. Isn't that weird though? Doesn't this mean something?"

If that's the case, then is he saying that something happened in that time gap?

Kuzan took this chance and answered Kawahara with his opinion.

"T-Then! Something must've happened in the preparation for the exam! And they were paired up with one another!"

"If they were paired up with one another, then they certainly must've developed a noticeable social bond, no?"

Rayazaki might've hit the mark yet we allowed Kawahara to continue with his reasoning.

"Slow down. You two are skipping steps. We have to consider the bastard's personality first."

Hyunda's personality is........

".............."

A quick silence was formed as we thought about Hyunda...

He's....

"Master... I think Hyunda is a friendly guy... Yet sadistic! He burned my Yu-Gi-Oh! deck..."

Kawahara helped though. What's your point, Kuzan?

That aside, I also gave my opinion regarding Hyunda.

"He's manipulative and never really speaks his true mind, I think. Only when it's convenient..."

And that's assuming that he's speaking the truth. At this point, I don't trust a single word Hyunda says fully.

"He's devoid of morality, in my personal opinion. He keeps a mask to the public. All of this is to get to a single point. How would someone who has such traits even manage to get a beauty like Arkalee to have a crush on him?"

"Maybe she digs bad guys?"

Rayazaki's option wasn't something to overestimate. There are several girls out there who behave properly but secretly dig for something that they will never speak about.

It's not such an orthodox guess at the end of the day.

"We don't know. That's something we can agree on. The whole point of this was to confirm that something took place prior to the previous exam. Now, here is the most interesting part that might cause some confusion. Generally speaking, who does the bastard hang out with the most? Or better yet who DID the bastard used to hang out with the most?"

Kawahara asked a question that I and Kuzan immediately knew.

I'm not certain regarding Rayazaki, but it was crystal clear to both of us, and surely, for Kawahara as well.

"Master, you're talking about Ikkiri!"

"Without a doubt Ikkiri, right, Kawahara?"

"Ikkiri?"

Rayazaki puzzled, questioned both of our approaches.

Despite that, Kawahara advanced with his reasoning.

"It's exactly as you three said. She's being bullied right now. I was absent so I missed out on the drama and trust me, I regret it, but from what I've heard, Ikkiri is being targetted by someone in class. Now... Let's think collectively for a second. You're a girl. You develop a crush on this bad guy who FOR SOME REASON you now dig. But then you notice that the guy who you have a crush on hangs out with this girl more than you do. ASSUMABLY, this pisses you off. How would you get rid of this problematic girl?"

Is Kawahara seriously implying what I'm thinking he's implying...?

I hope not. It's ridiculous to consider Arkalee as....

"Kuzan, go!"

Kuzan was up first, so Kawahara ordered him to start this chain.

"Ummmm....! Um... Um... That's... This is a hypothetical scenario only, right?"

"That's correct. We aren't assuming anyone here. Just running hypothesis."

Somehow, something tells me that in your mind, Kawahara, that's not the case at all.

"Then... Wouldn't it make sense to attempt to get rid of that girl? Assuming that I was the girl that had a crush on Hyunda... I wouldn't be okay with that."

Kuzan, please say no homo.

"Yes, yes, Kuzan! However, what exactly would you do to get rid of the girl?"

"Spend more time with Hyunda?"

That's an option, I suppose. There shouldn't be any problem with this option, honestly.

If you are this girl, which is probably Arkalee... Then, as long as you try to spend more time with Hyunda than this other girl, which is probably Ikkiri, then I don't see the problem.

"Moving on. Rayazaki. What's your take on this?"

Rayazaki did the thinking pose before replying.

Is he secretly aiming to become a philosopher or something?

"I don't know anything regarding Arkalee, so I won't base my answer on her."

"This is a hypothetical scenario. I understand if your point is that you can't base much on the scenery without knowing Arkalee in general, but this doesn't necessarily involve Arkalee, Rayazaki."

Except it does...

"Correct. That's what I think too. Therefore... I think it would be more sophisticated to get rid of the problematic girl. Kill her, maybe? No, that would go against the rules, obviously. Mhm... I don't think you can do anything regarding this... It's this problematic girl's freedom to approach Hyunda in the first place...."

In the end, Rayazaki came to the conclusion that by default, there was nothing that could've been done.

He reasoned that despite this problematic girl's obnoxiousness that it wouldn't matter in the end because that was simply her freedom manifesting itself.

"Dan, you're next."

Unlike the previous opinion, I assumed a more personal stance towards Kawahara's questioning.

"This is totally about Arkalee and Ikkiri, so I won't go with a hypothetical scenario... But... I don't think Arkalee would do something like that in the first place. She's way too introverted to actually commit such direct actions, don't you think? Therefore... Maybe through indirect actions? I don't know what those actions are though..."

I'm exaggerating a bit, honestly.

In my mind, there's no way that this is actually true. Someone who is naturally introverted would be coincidentally charmed with an extrovert's personality since the extrovert is like the other missing half of the introvert.

Plus, labeling it as 'charmed' is also an exaggeration.

We are most likely over-analyzing things...

"Wrong. Wrong. And... Wrong! How did you three miss out on something this obvious?"

Woahh.... Is he seriously branding us this hard...?

He's even mildly spitting his food onto us... Christ.

"First of all, by the assumption that Arkalee truly developed a crush on the bastard in that time gap, it's fair to assume that by doing so, she might've developed minimal possessive tendencies. By minimal tendencies, I'm talking about facilitating physical closure. They certainly are close right now, aren't they? Physically speaking, they are extremely close. You can't deny this."

...True...

What Kawahara just said is an undeniable truth. Yet that's only because Hyunda failed the exam due to Arkalee's absence.

Without Arkalee's absence, I don't know what would've happened. I think that they would've passed the exam with ease.

The problem is Hyunda. I think that he might've failed on purpose for his own personal reasons...

"But Master didn't Hyunda and Arkalee just become closer because Arkalee was absent?! She got a fever... Wasn't it purely coincidental or accidental?"

"True enough, Kuzan. Supposedly, Arkalee got a fever. Therefore, her absence. Now... What would've happened if she didn't get a fever? She would be able to participate in the events and in theory, they might've just won the exam. NOW, what would be the grand result, Kuzan?"

We slowly realized what Kawahara was implying even though it was on the back of our minds this whole time.

"If they passed the exam, then... They wouldn't be paired up in class. Ahhh! But that's only under the assumption that Ikkiri would pass the exam..."

Without Ikkiri passing the exam, I strongly doubt that they would remain together in class still.

Kawahara, smirked in response to Kuzan's reluctant words.

"And would you look at that, Ikkiri was absent too. Stomachache, was it? A little bit too convenient, don't you think?"

I had to interrupt Kawahara. He's just spewing way too many baseless things at this point.

"Kawahara, it was just a coincid--"

"It was not a coincidence! Coincidences don't exist! That's bullshit! Every moment is formed with a reason behind it! You can only call it a coincidence if you don't know the cause of that event!"

I just wanted to point out how illogical it might be to assume all of this suddenly, but Kawahara didn't even let me finish and simply yelled back at me with his short-tempered words.

All the rest of the students that were in this superficial area were attracted to Kawahara's high-pitched sentence quickly.

"Anyway, my point was that Ikkiri's absence wasn't a coincidence given that it was a little bit too convenient. Out of the other ten girls in the class, Arkalee, who probably developed a crush on the bastard during that time gap, and Ikkiri, who hung out with the bastard the majority of the time, were both absent. And I call that bullshit. Know why? Because Arkalee had all the reason in the world to target her. By making her absent and by making herself absent as well, the bastard and Arkalee were rightfully paired up with one another."

.....................

I ignored the previous event and summarized my thoughts for a second... Despite all of his lack of anecdotical evidence, I can't argue against Kawahara's points when it comes to the probabilities...

Though, it will take me more than this to believe in something that has no anecdotical evidence for sure.

"Wait... Wait, wait, Master! Doesn't this mean that Arkalee might've been the one behind the recent incident!?"

"Take a chill pill, Kuzan! I told you to not skip steps. I'll get to that eventually. Subsequently, after both of her absences, the result was that the bastard and Arkalee got paired up. I mentioned something before this though. What would the girl that's annoyed by the problematic girl's presence be aiming for all this time? Wouldn't it just make the most sense to aim to take her place? Especially when that place is arguably the place where the bastard and Ikkiri spend the most time together?"

Well, it's official.

Kawahara finally acknowledged that this was no longer a hypothetical scenario and moved onto the real thing.

Still...

"To strength my point, all of this wouldn't be enough for Arkalee, right? If she has a solid crush on the bastard, then something else needed to be applied. The funniest part about this is that Arkalee probably thinks she's clever as fuck. She probably thinks that no one has caught up. I could literally end her career if I wanted to right now."

No, I doubt that's possible.

No one in their right minds would believe you. Plus, you are forgetting that more than half of the class including all the girls right now hate you with the deepest of all hatreds.

"The time gap between the last exam and this current incident is far too short. She clearly didn't think this through enough. Typical though. If she was actually smart, she would give this a little more time. Yet, something was pressuring her. We don't know what though. But I can construct a very simple guess. She's thirsty for the bastard on an absurd level!"

"What......"

Kawahara is a professional when it comes to exaggeration...

I've observed how Arkalee behaves, but... Once we return to the classroom, I'll observe her behavior with actual attention this time around.

I don't want to believe Kawahara because he doesn't have maximum evidence, but...

What if I'm just completely wrong?

"I wasn't present during the whole drama, which makes me doubt what I'm going to say to a conceivable degree... But Arkalee was most likely the one who planned the incident that took place recently."

"Wait, what!? Master, that's absurd!"

"I agree with Kuzan here, Kawahara. Regardless of your take on this, Arkalee blamed Tateyana for the incident. It would make the most sense for Arkalee to blame Ikkiri if she really was after her..."

Rayazaki spoke my mind clearly on this as well.

What sense would it make for Arkalee to be behind this...

Someone who is an introvert can't possibly do something like this... Accordingly, that makes no sense...

"Fools. That type of mindset is lethal in these circumstances. If Arkalee truly didn't blame Ikkiri, then she played it out well. Too bad that when it's against me, playing it well won't be enough. She re-directed the blame onto someone else to illude the audience. Stop dancing on the palm of her hand and trust my take on this."

So according to Kawahara, we are just dancing on the palm of her hand...?

Yet would Arkalee really be this manipulative? I feel like this is a bit too impressive to be done by someone like Arkalee...

My opinion regarding Arkalee isn't high at all. But Kawahara isn't exactly praising her at the same time.

He's using her potential actions as possibilities whilst claiming that they are useless in face of him.

"The ultimate result was to make Ikkiri feel out of place and that's apparently working. In other words, Arkalee's work is shaping itself to be something praise-worthy. But, Arkalee didn't do this. At all."

"Wait, what!?"

Now I'm confused. He accuses Arkalee but then takes that back?

I'm seriously puzzled right now...

"It's very simple, Daniel. Let me put this from an easy and comprehensible perspective. You know chess, correct?"

"Yeah..."

Who doesn't...

"Great. You see the Queen, right? Tell me something, what stands in front of the Queen at all times?"

"The pawns..."

Why is Kawahara asking me something to simple though...?

I looked at Rayazaki, who seems to have caught onto something that I haven't.

"That's right. The pawns will always be in front of the Queen, effectively guarding her against any danger. In a sense, the Queen never has to directly exhort any influential actions by herself if the pawns do it all for her. Now, try to apply this in a scenario of reality. If there was someone that had the qualification to this 'Queen' then surely, her pawns would do anything for her. Yes... Even something that can be labeled as pure absurdity throughout the majority of the regulations."

At first, I didn't get it, but it eventually clicked.

Seriously...

Why doesn't he just tell things how it is? Kawahara and honesty don't come together at all...

"Arkalee is the Queen, right, Kawahara?"

"Excellent! You caught up!"

Bastard...

"Yes, Arkalee is the supposed Queen here. As I also mentioned, Arkalee doesn't have to do any direct actions if her pawns do it all for her."

That brought up a question that Rayazaki instantly threw at Kawahara.

"Who are these pawns you speak of, Kawahara?"

"We already know one. Tatsu, in my opinion, is one of her pawns. Now that all of this is coming together, she would need more and more pawns for all of this to work. Therefore, I suspect that Arkalee has under her control more pawns."

Seriously..........

Kawahara is labeling Arkalee as someone who is similar to that of a mastermind but I just can't see it that way.

It doesn't click.

"However, this is all pretty much irrelevant."

"Wait, then why did you bother to explain it all to us, Kawahara?"

"It was more toward you, Daniel. I just explained to you why it's irrelevant for you to maintain your previous target, which was Arkalee. Whether the bastard likes it or not, he's indirectly helping us. He's part of my team and he's contributing unknowingly!"

I wonder if it's actually unknowingly as Kawahara says...

And besides...

"Dude... You wasted basically the majority of our lunchtime with this long-ass explanation! I can't believe you, man!"

"Oh, shut up! It was an amazing explanation! My elegant contribution aside, Arkalee's case isn't something that's worth digging into. This was just an explanation. Your target will be Gale. You have no excuse here. It's gonna be hard because she's close to that cuck Ryoken, but you got this, I believe."

He's literally tossing me responsibility again...

And Gale out of all of them... I think she's even more boring than Arkalee.

How the hell do you even approach a bookworm? I sincerely have no clue...

"For the record, I'm not buying your theory, Kawahara..."

"That's alright. The theory wasn't my point. It's baseless. You can't deny it though. Chasing after Arkalee will be fruitless because she's attached to the bastard. Unless you want to go out of your way to prove me wrong. Bring her to your knees and I'll gladly admit that I'm wrong."

"......"

No way that's gonna happen is there... For Kawahara to be so confident about this, I strongly doubt that chasing after Arkalee is going to work.

Besides, I'll observe her behavior during class to determine whether or not she has a crush on Hyunda.

"Kuzan! Hours!"

"Yes, Master! 1:50 pm!"

"Shit, we got only 10 minutes! Alright, let's move out! Destination! Infirmary! We're getting the red-headed lord of absences who hasn't showed his face in fucking weeks!"

Who is Kawahara talking about....?